Angove Organic Merlot 2011

 

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Winery/Brand: Angove

 

Dark purple/red in colour; raspberry and plum characters abound on the nose. A complex palate of dark red fruits is complemented by subtle use of American oak displaying cinnamon and mocha characters. The palate is juicy, fresh and mouth-coating. The wine is firm in tannin whilst young but should soften well in the near future allowing the rounder characters typical of good Merlot to come to the fore.

 

 

The Story

VITICULTURE & WINEMAKING:
The grapes for this wine were sourced from Angove’s own Nanya Organic vineyard located in the vicinity of the township of Paringa. The soil is a relatively shallow red sandy loam over limestone, on top of a cliff overlooking the picturesque Murray River. The vines are mostly single cordon lower yielding vines, which the winemakers have noticed to be quite resilient in adverse conditions. Whether it is due to the organic practices being used or the site itself, the vineyard produces rich textural wines.

2011 was a challenging vintage for viticulturists and winemakers in Australia. With the final breaking of the drought we experienced plenty of rain events during the growing season meaning we had to pay careful attention to what was happening in our vineyards due to increased disease pressure. Fortunately our team have great experience working in the trying conditions we faced this year through their work in both warm humid regions and cold wet areas of Australia and Europe. By identifying any issues early the problems were assessed and outcomes in the winery were good.

The grapes for this wine were picked at night to make sure that they were as cool as possible. Crushed to modern rotary fermenters the grapes were then allowed to macerate for 2 days before inoculation and fermentation. Pressed off skins 7 days later and allowed to go through the second malolactic fermentation. The wine has then had minimal handling prior to filtration for bottling.

TECHNICAL:
Varieties: Merlot
Alcohol: 12.5% alc/vol
Total Acidity: 5.8 gms/l
Residual Sugar: 1.0 gms/l

The Specs

RegionSouth Australia
GrapesMerlot
Vintage2011
Volume750mL
PackagingGlass Bottle